When permafrost is perma-lost, the global carbon cycle is altered and coastal ecosystem are affected In a first-of-its-kind study, a team of researchers led by geoscientist Michael Rawlins at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has shown in fine-grained detail what happens when Arctic permafrost thaws. Focusing on a Wisconsin-sized area of Alaska’s North Slope containing hundreds […]
Beavers may be new to the Arctic, but they’re already leaving their mark. The industrious rodents are expanding their range as a result of environmental change, pushing their way north into permafrost and tundra landscapes. Their arrival carries many consequences for subsistence users. Creeks that once supported reliable fishing are now beaver-dammed. Fish and […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON – “Harpoon 1-2, this is Midnight Sun 1, radio check, over.” A brief pause stretches across the 545 miles of Arctic terrain, mountains and tundra between Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Nome. “Midnight Sun 1, this is Harpoon 1-2. I read you loud and clear. How me?” The response cuts clean through […]
Applied research collects data needed to ensure food security for Indigenous subsistence hunters in the United States and Canada. In 2025, NOAA and the Alaska North Slope Borough successfully completed a survey to count bowhead and beluga whales in the U.S. and Canadian Beaufort Seas and Amundsen Gulf. This international, multi-agency, multi-species project was the result of 3 […]